One of the godfathers of French electronic music and of minimal-synth and electropop in general, who sadly died recently, unfairly not having been as known as he deserved to become (though he has been quoted as an influence in France).
If the term 'outsider artist' is of any use and meaning, then Jad Fair would be one of the main representatives of it. He led pioneering no wave band 1/2 Japanese and has collaborated with a large number of indiepop artists. He also produces paintings and paper cuttings.
Ja Ja Ja are a good example of the sort of ‘wrong’ non-pop pop that came out of the NDW scene in Germany. Not a consciously ‘experimental’ project, but certainly one that questions pop-song-structures and is cute as hell.
The lead singer of Sham 69’s solo records were much more interesting and less mainstream sound-wise than the sound of his main band, especially 1983’s ‘Revenge is not the Password'
If you are not familiar with the work of post-punk legend James Chance, you should do something about it now! He combined free-jazzy sounds and a punk ethic like no one else. With alias James White and the Blacks, the plot thickens, as he immerses himself into conceptually self-referential disco. Genius.
Very obscure minimal postpunk from Cardiff, loosely connected to the Scritti Politti family, releasing only one 12” single.
Close to nothing is known for this one-single-only minimal synth duet, other than that one member was Matthias Schuster of Geisterfahrer. This theatrical renaissance melody meets ultra-simple key-lines of the early 80s just can’t be repeated.
Two fine artists from Massachussetts who have been named “the synth wave couple of the US”, Jeff and Jane Hudson released a couple of minimal synth records before embarking on their fine art paths. They recently performed as a synth duo again.
Why was not the Jellies’ “Jive Baby on a Saturday Night” a massive hit of its time really is very difficult to answer, as it is one of the most infectious minimal-bass-line tunes of the time. Well, have a dance now, 30 years later.
A wonderfullly complex, but largely unknown no wave musician, performance and video artist from New York.
Quirky Devo-esque late-70s/early 80s band from New Zealand that mixed Zappa-like crass humour, rhythmical rock and camp.
Considering how brilliant they are, it is very strange that Johanna Went’s records are so obscure and hard to find. This is performative post-punk / no-wave at its best, so if the idea of a much more extreme version of Malaria! sounds good to you, you will love her. A DVD of her legendary performances has recently been released.
John Bender's hand-crafted beautiful albums are sought after by collectors. An eclectic sound maker, he combined a dadaist anarchy and a feel for lyricism. Beautiful works.
Jona Lewie could be seen as a far off brother of Adam Ant, in the sense that he is an avant-pop hero as he is a father of 80s “novelty pop”. His early work has a wonderful zany quality to it, somewhat reminiscent of Kate Bush’s “The Dreaming”.
Absolutely unique electro quartet that were as seminal in their sound as they were the fathers of novelty-style performance-pop.
Joolz Denby is a new-wave artist mostly from the mid-80s, but for the purposes of this website, we present her first and most interestingly-sounding 12”.
Italian scream-punk nonsense from a would-become national TV star, Jo Squillo is somewhat unknown for her punky early days outside of Italy. The only youtube clip from those days unfortunately cuts mid-way.
Jowe Head was a member of two very important post-punk bands: Swell Maps and Television Personalities, but possibly released his most playful work as solo.
When it goes to found-sound empty minimalist new wave, it doesn't get much better than the Judy's, who composed catchy songy pieces but purposefully dressed them up with very minimal instrumentations.
Could Juicy Fruits be seen as an early version of Jap-pop? They clearly have an ability to write pop (even if they never made it), but they contaminate their shiny showtunes with angular Devo-esque guitars and punky drums.
Angular no-wavey funk from Eindhoven, which is vibrant and adventurous. The band remains rather obscure today.
Very obscure female-fronted Portland outfit for which it is hard to find much information. Chaotic no-wave we all love.